In the wake of disasters large and small, Red Cross relief workers and your co‑op’s line crews are right beside the first responders, like paramedics, police and fire crews, working to restore basic services. If there is advance warning of a major event, relief agencies and co-ops often preposition their teams for an even quicker response, and they activate emergency plans to call on out-of-state help.
The Red Cross
While not an official arm of the federal government, the Red Cross is chartered by Congress to provide disaster relief services nationwide. It works through a network of local chapters supported by donations and volunteers. As part of their planning to respond to major disasters, the South Carolina chapters of the Red Cross have identified nearly 1,000 potential shelter sites, and they have nearly 2,000 trained volunteers to help provide shelter, food and emotional support. They can also call on out-of-state resources as needed, including supplies from 20 Red Cross warehouses that are strategically situated around the United States, says Karen Anderson, regional disaster director of the American Red Cross Columbia Region.
To help get food to disaster victims, the state’s Red Cross chapters have eight emergency response vehicles—part of a fleet of 300 across the nation—each capable of carrying up to 500 meals. And in the case of a major disaster, the organization works with multiple partner agencies to open large kitchens, each of which can feed up to 40,000 people per day. “Once services are in place, the Red Cross uses a variety of communication means, from social media outlets to public address announcements through its emergency vehicles to inform the public on available services,” says Scott R. Salemme, chief executive officer of the American Red Cross Columbia Region.
Electric co-ops
While the Red Cross tends to feeding and sheltering disaster victims, the state’s network of electric cooperatives concentrates on restoring power as quickly and as safely as possible, says Scott Bryant, vice president for loss control and training at the Electric Cooperatives of South Carolina (ECSC). That means coordinating the work of repair crews that may work as many as 16 hours a day under harrowing post-event conditions.
Regular contingency planning among the ECSC’s 18 member cooperatives, and with co-ops in more than 20 other states, is crucial to moving swiftly and effectively. When it is safe to move in after an event, line crews first inspect and repair substations, then follow the power lines leading away from the stations to restore service to members.
“We try to get power back on as soon as we can,” says Bryant. “Those people at the very end of the line in outlying areas may be the last ones to get power restored, but they won’t be forgotten.”
In the event that damage from a major event—something like a Hurricane Hugo, for example—South Carolina crews can expect help from cooperatives in surrounding states. “Most every co-op in the United States has signed a mutual aid agreement with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association,” Bryant says.
“The agreement says that cooperatives are willing to send help wherever it is needed.”
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